


Candyman

by godessofbooks



Category: Lucifer (TV), Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Amenadiel loves his siblings, Author is no fan of unnecessary drama, Awesome Linda Martin, Candyshops, Canon Divergence - Lucifer (TV) Season 04, Canon Divergence 05x18 Supernatural, Caring Chloe Decker, Case Fic, Chloe Decker and Lucifer Morningstar use their words, Deckerstar - Freeform, Detective Douche - Freeform, Drunk Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Ella Lopez is a fangirl, Ella Lopez ships Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar, F/M, Gabriel Being Gabriel (Supernatural), Gabriel loves sweets, Healthy Communication, Just Desserts, Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV) Has Daddy Issues, Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV) Has Issues, Lux (Lucifer TV), Nightmares, Older Sibling Amenadiel (Lucifer TV), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Devil Face Reveal to Chloe Decker, Protective Amenadiel (Lucifer TV), Protective Chloe Decker, Soft Chloe Decker, Soft Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Trickster Gabriel (Supernatural), Winged Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), because I'm sick of people not talking to each other about their problems, trickster shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29336376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godessofbooks/pseuds/godessofbooks
Summary: A dead middle-aged man was found naked and castrated in a dark back alley in the middle of LA.A week later, the body of another man was found in an old warehouse. He was bitten to death by dogs.Then the body of a woman with a crushed head is found in a luxurious apartment that doesn't belong to her.And the only thing connecting these murders is the abundance of candy wrappers at the crime scenes.Alternate season 4 (Lucifer TV).Canon-Divergence after 05x18 (Supernatural).
Relationships: Amenadiel & Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Chloe Decker & Dan Espinoza, Chloe Decker & Ella Lopez, Chloe Decker & Lucifer Morningstar, Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar, Gabriel & Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), past Chloe Decker/Marcus Pierce
Comments: 60
Kudos: 93





	1. Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> My first multi-chaptered fic in english! This work is not finished, but I have a vague outline of the story. I don’t know what my update schedule will be as I’m in the middle of my exams, but I hope I can update once a week. I will also update the tags and the rating as I update.
> 
> This fic will take place in the Lucifer universe. As stated in the summary and the tags, this fic replaces season 4 of Lucifer (because come on, Chloe is a detective and knows better than trusting an extremely biased resource). As far as Supernatural goes, all events up until (and including) 05x18 are canon. Everything after that... well, you will see. 
> 
> This idea came to me when I was scrolling through the crossover works of Supernatural and Lucifer and read the summary of a fic (Just Desserts by JGVFHL, if you’re curious) wherein Chloe investigates some strange deaths about a killer with a sweet tooth. My mind immediately wandered off and came up with this story idea. I haven’t read past the summary and apologize if there are any more similarities, but seeing that the other fic also contains characters from the Marvel universe, I can safely assume that our stories will be headed into different directions.
> 
> I am not a native speaker. Grammarly is a great editing tool, but nowhere perfect. If you see any mistakes, please let me know.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe comes back after a two month vacation and finally talks with Lucifer about him being the Devil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings Chapter 01:  
> none

Chloe Decker sat in her car at the parking lot of the LAPD with her fingers clasped around the steering wheel and tried to prepare herself for going back to work.

After the whole mess involving Pierce and Lucifer, the new Lieutenant had granted her two months of vacation she had promptly taken. She had spent time with Trixie and talked to Ella, keeping her informed of her wholly unsurprising life. She called Linda regularly (because apparently Linda had known about Lucifer for quite a while and didn’t think it was important for Chloe to know) and did everything to avoid Lucifer. And Lucifer had never bothered her in those two months. Ella had said that he still worked at the LAPD and was now accompanying Dan on his cases, being his usual charming self (or, as Dan had once said: annoying, over the top, and cocky). 

And today Chloe would see Lucifer again. Would have to work with him again and pretend to the rest of the world that no, her entire worldview was not shattered, thank you very much. 

She grabbed her bag, opened the car door, and stepped outside. Breathe, Decker, just breathe, she told herself, as she stepped into the precinct and was welcomed by the smell of coffee and loud noises coming from the direction of the arrest cells. 

Just breathe. 

She nodded to the woman sitting at the front and currently talking to somebody on the phone. 

Breathe. 

The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside, followed by two new officers, probably fresh from the academy. Both of them were nervous, the blond man on her left fiddling with a small bracelet on his arm. The doors opened again on her level and Chloe stepped out and onto the bridge. Her gaze wandered immediately down to the open room and then to the back where her desk was. She had expected it to be empty, but instead, she saw Lucifer sitting on the edge, a seemingly bored expression on his face while he skimmed through the few papers that sat on her desk. 

To be honest, nothing that Chloe had done in those past two months could have prepared her for this moment. Lucifer seemed so… normal. So… un-devilish. 

Chloe watched as Ella came bouncing out of her lab, heading straight towards Lucifer. She saw how her partner stood up and was promptly hugged by Ella before she launched into one of her info dumps where she used her whole body to express herself. Chloe knew that Lucifer held no particular interest in forensics, but as always he listened to Ella and tried to keep up with her for no other reason than her happiness. She smiled. Down there were two of the most important people in her life, waiting at her desk for her return. 

Chloe stepped down the stairs. 

“Decker!” Ella exclaimed. “You’re back!” Her friend pulled her into a tight hug and for a short moment, Chloe buried her face in Ella’s hair. “I can’t believe that it’s only been two months! Without you work is so dull, we only get the boring cases!” 

Chloe smiled. “So you only missed me because of the cases?” She just couldn’t resist the teasing. 

“Of course not, how could you think that?” Ella laughed, hitting her arm playfully, her brown eyes glittering in the sunlight. 

Chloe smiled again (she just couldn’t stop) and then looked at Lucifer, who was uncharacteristically quiet. He stared at her with a look on his face she could barely recognize. He almost looked scared. Of her? Why would he be scared of her? She smiled at him in what was hopefully a reassuring smile, but that seemed to make Lucifer even more nervous. So she decided to channel her inner Ella and pulled him into a big hug. Lucifer was stiff against her body, not expecting her to react like this. She could feel his heart throbbing fast in his chest when he slowly returned her hug. Chloe could hear Ella awwing in the background and smiled against Lucifer’s shoulder. 

“Detective?” Lucifer sounded insecure. Chloe never wanted to hear that tone in her partner's voice again. 

“Lucifer”, she greeted him, her arms still wrapped around him. Yes, she normally wasn’t a touchy person in public (especially not in the precinct where everything could (and would) be turned into rumors), but she knew that he needed reassurance. 

He stared down at her, obviously at a loss for words. 

“Hey, uhm, Ella?”, Chloe asked her friend. “Could you give us a minute?” 

It took a moment for Ella to react, but a big grin split her face when she heard what her friend wanted. “Of course! Everything for Deckerstar!” She left before Chloe could ask her what Deckerstar meant. 

“Detective, are you well?” Lucifer’s voice was full of insecurity and worry. 

“Yes”, she answered. "Now that I'm here... I am well, indeed." 

Lucifer seemed irritated by her statement, so she tried to explain. 

“I… I’ll be honest, the first few days after the… incident, I was really, really scared. I didn’t know how to process that you’re the real Devil. I thought about packing up and leaving the country so that you can never find us again.” She took a deep breath. “Then I got a call from Linda. Apparently, you told her that I also know the truth and she was worried about my reaction. She told me how she reacted and for a long time, we just… talked. And she reminded me that you never hid the truth from me. It was my fault that I didn’t believe you before and for that I am sorry." 

Lucifer stared at her. “Detective, you have nothing to be sorry for!”, he said. 

"But I have, Lucifer! I have left you completely alone for two months. I didn't call or text you, I just... ignored and avoided you completely. Looking back, that wasn’t the best reaction from me. I should have talked to you earlier. I’m sorry. And I want you to know, that I don’t have a problem with you, Lucifer." 

At that, he looked completely flabbergasted and ready to argue, but Chloe continued. She knew that she needed to get this out without interruptions. 

"It took a while, but I realized that you were still my friend, still my partner. And I never felt like I was in danger with you or that I couldn't trust you. Linda helped me understand the real reason why I left you without a word. Because if you are real, then everything else is also true. Heaven, Hell, angels, demons, and probably more I’m not aware of. And that thought is so scary, Lucifer." 

Lucifer almost looked sad. "I never wanted to be the reason that you question everything around you, detective." 

"I know that wasn't your intention. And yes, it was overwhelming, but I think I understand now. I can live with it." 

"Are you sure, detective? I understand if you need more time to process." 

"Lucifer", Chloe said and looked him directly in the eyes. "I had enough time to process everything. If I think any more about this, I will go insane. I want to go back to work with you. Because... I missed working with you. You're a great partner." 

Lucifer was quiet, but he seemed cautiously happy. "I like working with you too, detective. Detective Douche is nothing like you." 

Chloe giggled. She _giggled_. She had never giggled in her life before. But she found that she didn't mind it if Lucifer was the cause of her giggling. 

Her partner looked at her like she had hung the stars. 

“Hey you two lovebirds, we got a new case!” Of course, it was Dan who interrupted their moment. He stood in the door to one of the conference rooms, holding up a couple of folders. 

"Speak of the devil", Lucifer murmured under his breath. Chloe giggled again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Chloe and Lucifer get briefed on the new case.
> 
> I am always happy about comments and/or kudos :)


	2. Poetic Justice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we get to know the first two victims and the team theorizes about the killer. 
> 
> Also, chapter titles are hard. (This will probably not be the last time I complain about that.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your positive feedback! I’m really excited to write this idea and I hope you will continue to like it.  
> My exams are almost over, now I "only" need to write a couple of essays and term papers. (Can you see my enthusiasm? Me neither.)
> 
> I just got the confirmation letter that I am accepted for a semester abroad, so you get the new chapter a day early.
> 
> Trigger warnings Chapter 02:  
> mentions of body mutilation  
> mentions of past unsuccessful sexual assault / non-con touching  
> mentions of past animal abuse

When Chloe and Lucifer entered the conference room, Dan had already opened the two case files. 

“Okay, these cases are really weird”, he began. “So, the first case. The victim is Brady Harris, 23, a college student. He lived with three friends in a city house belonging to his father. According to his friends, he was a party animal. After a night out he would often go home with a girl. Because of that, his friends didn’t report him missing for two days. Three weeks ago and after two days of missing, they found his body in a dark back alley of a club called Lucky Dragon. This is how they found him.” 

Dan moved four pictures over the table for Chloe to see. The first one showed the crime scene. It was a barely lit alley tucked between two clubs and empty, dilapidated buildings in a shadier part of town. The second picture showed the upper part of Brady Harris. He was laying on his back, blue eyes staring emptily at the dark sky. He was completely naked, his chest covered in red marks. 

“What are those?”, she asked. 

“Wounds from a sharp object, probably some sort of knife”, Ella answered. “I haven’t found out yet what type the killer used. But they are superficial and not the cause of death.” 

“Look at the other pics”, Dan said. 

The third pic showed the lower part of Harris’s body. His legs had the same injuries as his chest, but what drew her attention were the candy wrappers covering his crotch. They were transparent and weirdly shining in the bright light of the cameras. Because of the lighting she could identify red splotches covering the wrappers and saw enough to guess what was under the wrappers – or, more precisely, what _wasn’t_ under the wrappers. 

She stared at Dan, feeling sick at the mere thought. “Please tell me that that man wasn’t castrated.” 

Dan said nothing, just pressed his lips together. 

“Castrated?” Lucifer made an interesting noise and snatched the fourth and final picture from the desk. “Oh-ho, what did that creature do to warrant such a painful punishment?” 

“Of course Lucifer is interested in the sex stuff”, Dan murmured under his breath but carried on. “The officers talked to the witness that found the body. Her name is Morgan Lee. She’s one of four bartenders at the Lucky Dragon, the club that Harris was visiting frequently. According to the reports, she was quite happy to see him dead.” 

“Yeah”, Ella chimed in, “She said that Harris and his friends had quite the history of being too handsy when talking to female staff and patrons. She also said that he once waited for her in that back alley after her shift ended and tried to assault her, but another colleague pulled him off of her. They reported it to the police, but because Harris has an influential father, it got swept under the rug.” 

“What a piece of shit”, Lucifer commented dryly. “And what a fitting punishment. Castrating the potential rapist, talk about poetic justice.” 

Chloe sent him a dark look, even though some small part of her agreed with him. “That sounds like Morgan and her colleague had a pretty strong motive to kill him”, she said. 

“They do, but both of them have waterproof alibis”, Dan said. “They worked the shift at the Lucky Dragon during which Harris was killed. It was a Friday evening and the Lucky Dragon was full, so there is no way one of them could have gotten away without being seen. The officers asked some patrons who all confirmed that they were working until four in the morning. And the coroner said that Harris died between ten o’clock and midnight.” 

“He was also not killed behind the Lucky Dragon”, Chloe observed. “There is no blood surrounding the body. Besides, somebody would have heard his screams. I don’t believe that Harris would’ve been quiet when somebody was dismembering him.” 

“Yeah, the officers noticed that too. They searched all surrounding buildings, but all of them were clean. We don’t know where he was dismembered.” Ella sighed. “And I agree with the coroner, the castration was the cause of death. Harris died a slow and painful death from blood loss. We also haven’t found any medication in his blood, so he was fully conscious for the whole ordeal.” 

“Good”, Lucifer said. “And his afterlife won’t be better. Rapists go to a special section in Hell. Nobody, including my demons, likes them.” 

Dan looked at him with an annoyed expression but was quickly cut off by Chloe before they could argue. 

“And the candy wrappers? They are pretty unusual to leave behind. I don’t think I have ever encountered somebody with that method.” 

“There are no records of a killer leaving candy wrappers behind”, Dan confirmed. “I searched our entire database. I even did a search through the national database.” 

“We also haven’t found out what candy was in them. They are all clean. No traces of anything sweet, no fingerprints, no DNA. Nada. It’s as if the killer used magic to open them.” Ella sounded frustrated and amazed at the same time, which Chloe didn’t think was possible before. 

“So we’ve got no leads in the Harris case?”, Chloe summarised. “There has to be something.” 

“If there is, it’s long gone now”, Dan sighed. “After three weeks it’s basically impossible to find something else at the crime scene. Anyways, the second victim is Owen Brookshore, 45 years old. The LAPD was watching him after receiving a tip that he was the main organizer of illegal dogfights. It was rumored that the fights were taking place in an abandoned warehouse complex outside the city. The cops who observed him called their superiors when he mysteriously disappeared one day and they couldn’t track him down. Two days later they did a second sweep of the warehouse and found his body. Or what was left of his body, anyways. This is again not a very pretty picture. Quite cruel, if you ask me.” 

Dan showed Lucifer and her the photo of a man covered in bite marks. Some chunks of flesh were missing from his arms and legs, even from his waist and belly. 

Chloe turned away from the picture, trying her very best to not vomit over Lucifer’s expensive suit. That was horrible. Yes, crimes against animals were despicable, but how was killing the guy behind it better? 

“The bite marks are from dogs”, Ella said quietly. “And Brookshore was alive when the killer sicked the dogs at him. He died from blood loss, one of the dogs tore an artery open. Judging from the different dental impressions, there were five dogs all over him. Probably some dogs from his dogfighting club.” 

“That’s sick”, Chloe commented. “As if those dogs weren’t tortured enough.” 

Ella hummed. “When the officers searched the crime scene, they found an abandoned office. Brookshore apparently had a betting pool and every viewer had to make a bet to get in. He wrote all the details down, so at least we could arrest the people that get off on that torture. We also found the room with all the dog cages, but they were empty and we got no lead on the dogs.” 

“On this crime scene, the officers also found some candy wrappers”, Dan continued. “That seems to be the signature of our killer. Only this time, the wrappers weren’t concentrated on one body part, instead, they were laying all around the body. And once again they were clean.” 

Lucifer had been pretty quiet throughout the whole briefing. That either meant he was thinking about the case, thinking about his evening or thinking about the most inappropriate thing he could say. 

“This killer has style”, he said. “I like it.” 

Sometimes, her partner was very predictable. 

“Lucifer, you can’t say stuff like that!” Dan sounded exhausted as if he had said the same thing multiple times before. Seeing as he was partnered up with Lucifer the last two months, it was probably true. Chloe quickly hid a smile. 

“You’re a consultant for the LAPD, you’re not supposed to empathize with this killer!” 

“But so very few people actually understand the principle of fair punishment. Of course, seeing as I am the Devil, it’s my job to punish people, but I can always appreciate a job well done. Detective, I have to absolutely meet this guy! He seems very creative in his punishments and I always need more inspiration for my demons. You wouldn’t believe how dull they are when it comes to creative thinking.” 

“Lucifer, this guy castrated a man and sicked rabid dogs onto another”, Ella answered and shuffled the pictures together. “You may call that creative, but normal people call it disgusting.” 

Chloe couldn’t agree more with Ella, but for the sake of a few undisturbed hours of work, she didn’t say anything. And at least Lucifer was invested in the case. The few times he wasn’t… Well, they didn’t end well. 

“Do we have any leads on the second victim?”, she asked instead. 

“Not really. He lived alone in a shabby apartment. No spouse, no kids, no family, no friends. He had a job at a construction site but got fired for drinking on the job four months before his death. We talked to his neighbors and the janitor of the building, but they couldn’t tell us anything besides that he liked to turn up his music in the middle of the night.” 

“So we have a would-be rapist that was castrated and an organizer of a dogfighting circle who was killed by dogs? That sounds like vigilantism to me. But I can’t detect any similarities between them. Harris was a trust fund baby with daddy on speed dial and had everything in life, while Brookshore enjoyed torturing animals, had practically no social life and no legal job.” 

Dan nodded approvingly. “But the killer especially targeted those two, so they have to have some connection. I mean, animal abuse and almost rape? Those two normally don’t go together.” 

Chloe sighed and wanted nothing more than to rub her eyes, but she wore make-up and didn’t want to ruin it. “So what if the victims don’t have a connection to each other, but to the killer? I don’t mean it like people they both knew, I think we’ve established that they were in different social spheres, but maybe they each had a personal connection to the killer. What if those crimes they committed personally offended the killer and that was the reason he or she went after them?” 

“You mean like a personal agenda?” Dan looked thoughtful. 

Before they could ponder about this new angle, the door to the conference room opened, the new lieutenant marching in. 

“There’s a new victim. The officers found candy wrappers at the crime scene.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Chloe & Lucifer investigate the third crime scene.
> 
> I am always happy about comments and/or kudos :)


	3. Apartment 343B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today Chloe & Lucifer talk some more, visit the third crime scene and while Chloe tries to be professional, Lucifer has a terrible feeling about this case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to the third chapter!  
> The apartment is based on this one: https://www.udr.com/orange-county-apartments/irvine/the-residences-on-jamboree/floor-plans/?beds=3 (Apartment C2A)  
> I will also try to embed it into the story, but I’m not sure it will work. (And if somebody could tell me how I can get rid of the double notes at the end of the chapters, I would greatly appreciate it.)  
> For the sake of the story, we ignore that this apartment is located in Irvine (30 minutes outside of LA) and not in Beverly Hills. The bedroom next to the kitchen is changed into a small office to fit the story’s purpose. 
> 
> Also, according to my planning right now, we won’t see Gabriel for some time… Because of that I thought about adding a scene from his POV to the next chapter, how are you feeling about this? 
> 
> Trigger warnings Chapter 03:  
> description of a fatal traumatic head injury  
> mentions of blood & brain matter  
> mentions of past kidnapping

As usual, Chloe and Lucifer drove together to the crime scene. It was nothing new and yet, Chloe was nervous. Now, they had the twenty-minute drive to the crime scene to talk. Over the past two months, she had accumulated a ton of questions for Lucifer. Back at the precinct, there wasn’t nearly enough time or privacy to really talk, but now, they had the whole car ride. Twenty minutes weren't a long time, but at least it was something.

As soon as they were both sitting in her car, doors closed and seatbelts fastened, Chloe took a moment to really look at her partner. She had noticed that he had been very quiet during the briefing and even though he had tried to behave like usual (which meant that he was saying inappropriate things at unfortunate times and tried to be as tactless as possible), Chloe knew that his heart wasn’t in it.

“Are you okay, Lucifer?”

Lucifer hesitated. “Did you really mean what you said before the briefing, detective?”

“About me accepting you? Yes, absolutely, why?”

He stared at her. “I would understand it if you rectify that statement, detective.”

Chloe held back a sigh. She knew her partner was stubborn, but why was he so determined to get her to hate him?

“Lucifer. I had my freak-out. I overcame it. You are my partner and I trust you with my life. You saved me from Pierce and that was only the most recent one. I know what reputation the devil has and frankly, I don’t agree with it. You’re not evil, you don’t hate humanity and you don’t start wars because you are bored.”

He still looked like she played an extremely cruel prank on him and would hurt him at the next moment, but his shoulders relaxed a bit.

Chloe pulled the car out of the parking lot and into the slow traffic of LA. It was quiet in the car, only the radio made some noise. It was time for the ads, a woman praised a new dieting product that made her lose ten pounds in the first month of using it.

“I believe you have some questions, detective”, Lucifer said.

“Yes”, she admitted and switched lines. “Linda tried her best to explain the general stuff to me, but most of the things she knows are directly tied to you and the reason you are in therapy, so she can’t speak about it.”

The ghost of a smile appeared on Lucifer's face. “Yes, I can imagine. So, detective, what is your first question?”

“When Pierce and his goons tried to shoot us”, she began. “You did something to protect us and when I opened my eyes again, I was on a roof somewhere in the city with no idea on how I got there.”

“Ah, yes. I used my wings as a shield and flew us out.”

Chloe sneaked a look at him. He was now lounging in the car seat as if it was his throne.

“Wings? As in… actual wings?”

He looked amused. “Yes, detective. Actual wings. Angel wings, to be precise.”

“Angel wings”, she repeated, feeling kind of stupid.

“Yes.”

“But… how?”

“Dad, probably. He likes to mess with my life.”

And wasn’t that a sentence she had heard often, but she had never believed it really was God he was referring to.

“God is your father”, she said.

This time his “Yes.” was accompanied by a sigh.

“Wait, but how does Charlotte fit in this? You called her mum before, but isn’t she… I don’t know, a few thousand years too young for you? How old are you anyway?”

“My mother was chained in Hell for a very long time. When she got out, she possessed the body of the most recently dead human. That just happened to be Charlotte. I then sent Mum into her own universe and Charlotte came back from hell.”

There was so much in this statement that she didn’t know what to unpack. “Is this something you do every day? Sending somebody into a new universe?”

“No, don’t be ridiculous, detective. That was my first time”, he said.

“And how old are you? Don’t think I have forgotten that question because somehow I don’t believe you were born in 1978.”

He smiled. “Why, detective, I didn’t know you were interested.”

She only rolled her eyes.

* * *

A few minutes later, they arrived at the apartment complex. It was a pretty generic modern building in black and white which could be found all over LA. Already some people were lingering in front of the entrance. Chloe flashed her badge to the officers and ducked under the yellow tape. Lucifer held the door to the apartment complex open and then followed her to the third floor where apartment 343B was located.

The coppery smell of blood was overwhelming when Chloe stepped into the apartment and directly into the open kitchen. The big windows in the living room which took up most of the opposite wall space were open and so was the glass door to the small balcony, but that didn’t do much.

Trying to breathe through her mouth, she moved past the kitchen island and the square dining table and crouched down next to the three-seater. The smashed head of the victim laid on the armrest facing the big windows. The rest of her body was splayed out on the couch, her pedicured feet dangling over the other armrest. All over her body were the same empty candy wrappers, an assistant to the coroner took photos and then bagged each one of them separately.

Chloe didn’t know how the medical examiner next to her could be so calm about examining the victim's crushed skull. Even though she was a homicide detective and had seen her fair share of brutally murdered people, most of her cases weren’t that cruel or messy.

“Did she die from… the head injury?”, she asked.

The coroner nodded. “It took only one hit on her head to break through her skull. I don’t know what kind of weapon could cause that. I’m not even sure that a human could have the strength to crush a skull open and decorate a living room with cerebral matter.”

No, Chloe would not imagine that, thank you very much. She wanted to eat for the next few days.

“And all of that with seemingly only one hit?”, the coroner continued, seemingly unfazed. “You’re probably searching for a superhuman or somebody on steroids.”

“Are there any other injuries?”, she asked, hoping to divert the topic.

“Only a small cut on her ankle, but that probably happened while shaving. Nothing else.”

She nodded and stood back up again, then turning her back to the body.

Lucifer sat on one of the red stools near the island and looked pale, but before she could ask him what was wrong with him, another officer approached her.

“Detective, I have searched her office and found her ID. Her name is Louise Hamilton, 28. She is a former missing person, her parents reported her missing when she was just three years old. According to our files, she escaped her kidnapper only one year ago. Sadly, she wasn’t able to identify him. She apparently was kept in a dark room most of her life and never saw him, only heard his voice sometimes. After her escape, Miss Hamilton lived with her parents for a while, but eventually, they bought her this apartment. They still visit frequently, the second bedroom next to the living room is decorated with pictures from her early childhood and a couple that seems to be her parents. In the closet hang some clothes that don’t have her size.”

Chloe held back her sigh. This poor family. The only child kidnapped at an early age, having to live for over twenty years in uncertainty if she was still alive or long dead and then, when they just got her back, she was brutally murdered, this time with no hope of returning.

She immediately thought of her own daughter and her stomach turned upside down. She didn’t even want to think about the hypothetical kidnapping of Trixie. She would have tracked her down and killed that piece of shit that dared to touch her baby girl.

No, she definitely didn’t want to break the news to the parents. She had always hated that part of the job, but this time it was just cruel.

Chloe looked over her shoulder at the body of Louise Hamilton. She wore dark grey sweatpants and a plain white crop top, and judging from the packaged face mask and the DVD case of a cheesy romance film laying on top of her coffee table, she had probably planned a self-care day.

“And I already took the witness report from the cleaning maid that found her”, the officer continued. “I will send a copy of it to your email as soon as possible.”

“Please do that, Officer Johnson.” The young woman nodded, noted something down on her notepad, and went back to the office.

Chloe, who was still staring at Louise Hamilton, averted her gaze from the dead body to Lucifer, who seemed unnaturally shaken. She had never seen that kind of look on his face. “Lucifer, have you found something?”

“Every time an angel uses his or her mojo, they leave an… impression behind”, whispered Lucifer.

"What? I didn't know that was a thing. Linda didn't tell me that."

Lucifer looked at her. "While I admit that Linda is a very intelligent human being and one of the few people that know the truth, she is still human and therefore doesn't know the answer to everything. It isn't anything that was important for any of my problems so I didn't mention it before. How did you think angels recognise each other? There are quite a few of us and even for an angel it is difficult to remember each and every sibling. Mum and Dad made it so that we are easily distinguishable by our mojo and the impression it leaves behind. Personally, I think they made that little failsafe because they too lost count of how many children they had."

Chloe didn't know what she could possibly answer to that, so she gestured for Lucifer to continue.

“As I said, every impression is unique, so we are usually able to tell who used his powers. The keyword here is: usually. I can tell that there was an angel here who used their power, but I can’t identify who it was and that should be impossible!”

“Wait, Lucifer, hold on”, Chloe said and held her hand up. “You are saying that there was an angel in this apartment? Can you tell me when exactly?”

“Sometime in the last month, but I can’t get more accurate than that. Usually, I could give you the exact time, the duration, and who it was, but something is blocking me. I can’t get a read on this impression!”

“And can you tell what happened?”

Lucifer looked blankly at her. “I can’t see into the past, detective.”

“No, I mean… you can somehow gather the information when the... impression was left behind, can you also tell what the mojo was used for?”

Lucifer furrowed his brows and a concentrated look appeared on his face. “No”, he said after a few seconds. “It’s like the impression is sentient and actively trying to defend itself from my poking.”

“It can do that?”

“No, not normally”, Lucifer answered, for once being serious in his life.

“I don’t like this case, detective. Something is very, very wrong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Chloe & Lucifer talk to the parents.
> 
> I am always happy about comments and/or kudos :)


	4. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to the fourth chapter! Today, we start with a Gabriel POV and then get back to our favorite duo. Chloe does some thinking before they have the dreaded talk with the parents of Louise Hamilton.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was very tempted to call this “major sadness” because for the longest time I didn’t know what to name it. I eventually settled on “Nightmares” because of Gabriel having a literal nightmare and the Hamiltons suffering through their worst nightmare. And then it got longer and longer the more I wrote and I still don’t know how I got over 3k. 
> 
> Also, in this chapter Chloe mentions her badge number. As the show never revealed it (when Lucifer was asked in 03x01, he didn’t know it and instead guessed her bra size), so I had to improvise and took her birth month (November) and birth year (1981). 
> 
> ~~I hate formatting~~
> 
> Trigger warnings Chapter 04:  
> description of past temporary major character death

_He blinked and he saw Lucifer._

_The crazed look in his eyes, the hatred of millennia evident in every move he made._

_And then the pain. Oh, the pain._

_Gabriel was no stranger to pain, the pagans liked it rough, but his angel blade had simultaneously set him on fire and drowned him in ice-cold water while ripping his Grace into tiny pieces and tearing his celestial body from his vessel. His entire being was stretched beyond limits, torn into a million different directions._

_For a small eternity that couldn’t have lasted longer than a millisecond, his consciousness was everywhere in the universe. And while Archangels could resist more than your normal run-of-the-mill angel, even they weren’t meant to be in multiple places in the universe. Somewhere, a mind-numbing scream tore it’s way out of his vessels’ throat, the pure pieces of his Grace crying out for help._

_A small part of him was distinctly aware that Lucifer held his vessel upright, hand still curled around the hilt of the blade. For one second the fog of rage disappeared from Lucifer’s eyes and had betrayed the surprised-horrified look before the fury had taken over once again. When the body landed on the floor, Lucifer loomed over him, his vessel’s face in an almost predatory grin._

_Then he disappeared and left Gabriel alone, while he screamed and lost his entire awareness to the nothingness of the universe._

_Before the blade had completed its work and burned the last remnants of his Grace, he thought he sensed another angelic presence, but his Grace was already too weak to feel the truth. They tried to put some pieces of Grace together, but he knew they wouldn’t succeed. The largest part of his Grace had already merged with the universe, there was no coming back. He vaguely recalled a feeling of safety and home before the last piece of consciousness slipped away and he sank into blissful non-existence._

With a startled cry, Gabriel jerked awake and promptly emptied his stomach on the floor next to his bed. Ever since his awakening that shouldn’t be possible because he had been dead, he had this recurring nightmare. In all the countless years of his existence, he had never truly slept. Or had dreams, for that matter. Sure, he had often slipped in a meditative state, but that didn't count as sleep.

And now his vessel demanded sleep and nutrition and hydration. He got cramps if he ate too much candy and he had to wash the body every day, not to mention the constant need to piss. Honestly, how did humans manage that? He would never make fun of this again, this was a nightmare in itself.

And he couldn’t use his Grace to do that stuff either. Something was blocking it for everyday purposes and in the whole month that Gabriel had stayed in LA, he hadn’t been able to figure out how.

With a disgusted motion of his hand, Gabriel vanished the mess on his floor and cleaned the air. He got rid of the bad taste in his mouth and sank back into the pillow mountain on his bed, looking on the clock on his end table. Five in the morning. It was longer than he normally slept. But no matter how hard he tried to get back to sleep, the second he closed his eyes he saw Lucifer again, ramming the blade in his stomach.

Sighing, he turned on his back and stared at the white ceiling, mulling over his current situation.

He could explain the restrictions of his Grace because of the alternate universe he had woken up in. Some universes had the same rules, some not. In his childhood, he and his older brothers would often play hide and seek in different universes (or more accurately: while his brothers were busy being boring, he would slip away and explore the different universes and one of his older brothers, mostly Raphael, had to drag him back before their Father noticed he was missing. Eh, not the point.).

And while the restrictions of his everyday use of Grace were annoying, he could live with them. Sure, it was annoying and took a huge part of the day away from him, but he would eventually accept the semi-human lifestyle.

What he could never accept however, was the fact that he couldn’t leave. After his Grace had recovered from being torn into tiny pieces, he had snapped his fingers and expected to be back in the Hotel he had died in, but he hadn’t moved one inch. He was still standing in the beach house he had rented for the duration of his recovery. Over the last three weeks, he had tried everything he could think of, but nothing worked.

Gabriel never liked those kinds of universes. He hated being stuck in one place and as one of the ten oldest beings in existence, he was used to doing everything he wanted. Even as a fledgling, he had always avoided them out of fear he wouldn’t be able to leave. Now his fear had come true.

And it wasn’t as if he had much to do here. The pagans didn’t exist. There were no other supernatural creatures besides demons and angels. Even Heaven felt different from the Heaven he was used to, Hell as well.

But the icing on the cake was that he was unable to leave LA. After two days he would find himself at the beach he had woken up, no matter what he had been doing. Something wanted him to stay in the city of angels (and no, the irony was not lost on him).

So for the time being he had purchased the beach house and explored the city in the hopes he would find out what tethered him here. During one of his outings, he had literally stumbled over that one boy, Brady something, and had to do a double-take at the soul of the human. He had always been able to see souls and luckily his stay in this universe hadn’t affected that. But it had been a while he had seen a soul as dark as that one. He had turned himself invisible and followed the boy for two days, interested in how his soul got so twisted. And what he had seen… On that day he decided to take up his role as the trickster again. Nobody said that he couldn’t enjoy

Gabriel sighed, rubbed his temples, and looked at the clock on his bed table. It was five-thirty according to the red letters.

A new day was waiting.

A new day full of new assholes who needed a reminder.

He smiled.

At least that hadn’t been taken from him. 

* * *

Petra and Thomas Hamilton lived near the apartment of their daughter. Still, Chloe and Lucifer took the car, mainly so they could talk more about angels without sounding insane.

“I don’t understand this”, Lucifer complained as soon as the doors were closed. “None of my siblings like Earth that much, they prefer Silver City. And they aren’t fans of humanity either, so why would they come down?”

“Uhm, maybe someone decided that they want to get rid of some humans?”

Lucifer stared at her, mouth open. “Detective! You can’t say something like that!”

Chloe just looked puzzled at him.

“An angel killing humans… that is preposterous! Unthinkable! Dad has few rules, but the very first one is that an angel is not allowed to kill a human.”

Chloe nodded until she realized something. “Lucifer, what is the punishment for breaking that rule?” She knew she sounded desperate, but she didn’t care.

“I don’t know. Nobody else has ever dared to do that.” Lucifer’s tone was clipped and he turned his head away from her, resolutely staring out of his car window. His whole demeanor changed, his walls rising up again, shutting her out.

Chloe’s stomach dropped, worry for her partner and friend seeping through her whole body. She remembered clearly how Lucifer was crouched over Pierce’s body, how he slowly stood up and turned around to look at her with this horrible face she had had nightmares about. How the hilt of a weirdly curved knife was buried in Pierce’s chest. Lucifer standing in front of him, his devil face and the expensive suit clashing together.

Lucifer's entire posture now was stiff and she knew that he wouldn’t answer her question.

_What was your punishment for killing Pierce?_

They spent the rest of the drive in complete silence, not even the radio was on. The silence was heavy and Chloe felt uncomfortable throughout the whole ride and found herself wanting to get out of the car as soon as possible. Of course, then she remembered that she had to break the news to the parents about their daughter.

But right now everything seemed to be better than spending a second more than necessary in this car. Just this morning, she had been excited to finally see her partner again, to talk to him again and maybe, just maybe to explore the what-could-be between them. And now Lucifer was quiet again, walls up.

Normally, she was able to crack his walls, but that would take a long time (and also include a heavenly disaster, and right now she really didn’t want to deal with any additional problems). It would take time she didn’t have right now, she was still on duty. Maybe she could come to Lux tonight. They could get drinks at the bar and Lucifer could play the piano to destress. They would be undisturbed by nosy colleagues or the weird stares of people passing by.

She gripped the steering wheel tighter and risked another look at her partner, but Lucifer was as still as a statue. She had noticed before that Lucifer tended to freeze during car drives. It had always unsettled her, a human shouldn’t be able to sit so still. Now she knew better, but it still creeped her out seeing him like this. Lucifer was always moving somehow, either tapping with his foot or humming one of his favorite songs under his breath, barely audible. Sometimes he would tap his fingers on his legs as if he wanted to play the piano and she had once seen him braiding Ella's hair while they were going through bank statements of a suspect.

Over time, she had seen a pattern. When he was moving, he was happy and carefree, when he was freezing up something big was bothering him. And right now that could only be the angel impression he had discovered.

Chloe switched lines while she mulled over the involvement of another angel. She only knew Lucifer and Amenadiel. To her knowledge, no other angel had visited Earth before and Lucifer had said that they preferred Heaven. Why would an angel come down and visit Louise Hamilton’s apartment? And why would they use their mojo in her apartment?

During her vacation, she had read many texts about angels and all of them were praising angels as ethereal beings proclaiming the word of God and helping humanity. Now, she knew that Lucifer and Amenadiel were the only angels on Earth. Lucifer definitely didn’t advocate his father’s word (she thought that Lucifer would throw a temper tantrum if she ever mentioned that to him) and he only punished people who deserved punishment. Chloe didn’t think that bringing punishment was classified as helping humanity.

And Amenadiel… Chloe wasn’t sure what exactly he was doing now, but she was sure that she would have heard the news about miraculous healings or other things that weren’t explainable. And if the other angels were like Amenadiel… Well, the possibility of doing helpful things was almost ruled out.

Why else would an angel be in an apartment that belonged to a kidnapping victim? Maybe healing, she thought, but she wasn’t sure if angels could heal a traumatic experience. And if it was possible, why exactly would they want to help a random traumatized human?

As far as they knew, the girl was no believer and she definitely wasn’t in the know, so what had made her special in the eyes of the angel?

Chloe turned off into a small gated neighborhood and showed the security her badge. As she drove on the street, she also wondered why Louise Hamilton was the third victim of the killer. The previous ones had broken the law and were generally despicable human beings, but the young Hamilton girl? She was a former victim of kidnapping and nothing in her files had indicated that she had broken the law while being kidnapped. In fact, she had spent most of her life in isolation. Why did the killer think she deserved to die?

She briefly entertained the thought of a copycat killer, but the telltale sign of the empty candy wrappers wasn’t mentioned in the public case files. This case was proving to be very frustrating and she only had it for a few hours. What did she overlook?

Chloe parked her car in front of a two-story brick home with a white fence and a lush front yard. “Lucifer, we’re here”, she said and finally Lucifer moved again. Just to open the car door and to step out of the car, but oh well. Baby steps, she reminded herself, as she got off as well and locked the car.

Lucifer followed her to the door and she rang the doorbell. Two heartbeats later the door was opened and an older woman stood in the doorframe. She had some grey hairs in her otherwise brown hair and a silver frame on her nose. But the most noticeable was the frightened and frantic look in her blue eyes.

Chloe had only time to show her badge before the woman interrupted her.

“Oh thank God, you’re here!”, she said relieved, ushering them inside. “I know that it isn’t usual to call the police when my adult daughter doesn’t answer our texts and calls, but you have to know that she was abducted when she was little”, her voice broke a little, but after a deep breath she carried on, “and we only got her back a short time ago and we promised her that we would try to give her some space and not hover over her, but it’s been a full day with no reaction and we’re so worried about her! Thomas, the officers are here!”

She led them to a cozy living room where a man, probably Mr. Hamilton, sat on the couch, a phone near his ear. “Petra, darling, I’m still talking to the police”, he said, clutching the phone, rapidly listening to what was said on the phone.

Mrs. Hamilton's face fell. “But the lady had a badge”, she said, helplessly looking between her husband on the phone and Chloe.

“The officer says that they haven’t dispatched anybody. What is your name and badge number?”, Mr. Hamilton asked Chloe. She understood why Mr. Hamilton was asking, they could have been imposters. She probably would have done the same thing.

“I’m Detective Chloe Decker and my number is 1181”, Chloe said. “My partner is Lucifer Morningstar, he’s a civilian consultant.”

Mr. Hamilton repeated that information and then fell quiet. Eventually, he ended the call and stared at Chloe in horror.

“Thomas, what is it?”

“She is a homicide detective”, he whispered. “It’s our baby, isn’t it? She’s dead!”

“No”, Mrs. Hamilton said, looking at Chloe. “No. That’s not true. You must be mistaken.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton”, Chloe said, feeling the emptiness of her words. But what else could she say?

“No, that’s impossible”, Mrs. Hamilton said, the smile on her face visibly strained. “My little baby is fine, she just lost her phone. She’s okay.”

Lucifer and Chloe exchanged looks. They both knew Mrs. Hamilton was in denial.

“Who did it?” Mr. Hamilton's fingers were curled so tight around the armrest of the couch that his knuckles were white.

“We don’t know, but we’re doing our best to find her murderer.”

Mrs. Hamilton let out a choked sob and fleed the room.

Mr. Hamilton was staring at Chloe, seemingly unable to move.

“I know that it is a very bad time, but can we ask you a few questions to further our investigation? Did your daughter have any enemies?”

“Everybody loved her”, Mr. Hamilton eventually said, but his thoughts seemed to be somewhere else.

“Did she have close friends that might know more? Or a boyfriend, perhaps?”

“She was very shy with people, didn’t get out much. The only other person she talked to was her therapist.”

“Could you give me a name?”

“Dr. Patrick Scott, Long Beach. And now I want you to go. We want to grieve for our daughter in private.”

“Of course, Mr. Hamilton. This is my card, please come as soon as you can to the precinct where I or one of my colleagues will ask you some more questions.”

Mr. Hamilton nodded and then followed his wife upstairs, where Chloe could hear quiet sobs.

“Come”, Chloe whispered to Lucifer who stared after the grieving couple on the floor. A myriad of expressions went over his face, but the one that stayed was quiet determination and a fire in his eyes that made her want to take a step backwards.

As soon as they closed the front door, Lucifer spoke up, his voice sharp. “We need to find the angel that is responsible for this, detective.”

“You think one of your siblings killed Miss Hamilton?”, Chloe asked. “But I thought…”

“That it was against Dad’s rules? Never stopped me. And who knows, I haven’t been home for a while. Even angels can change.”

“Lucifer… How can you be so sure? That one of your siblings is the killer?”

Lucifer turned his head and looked her in the eyes. The little hairs on her neck stood up, as he said: “Because the only reason to hide mojo is if they desperately wanted to hide that they used it for something that is against the rules. Like killing a human.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: ~~A heavenly Q &A session~~ Chloe & Lucifer talk to a therapist
> 
> I am always happy about comments and/or kudos :)


	5. Dr. Scott

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to the fifth chapter! Today, we have a very small portion of Deckerstar and then Chloe & Lucifer talk to a therapist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know, I promised you a Q&A session with Lucifer, Maze and Amenadiel, and I’m very sorry.  
> My outline for this chapter was “they talk to the therapist, go to lucifers apt & chloe interrogates luci, maze and amenadiel about heaven and hell”, but I didn’t expect the scene with the therapist to take so long.  
> I thought “Okay, I can write it in 700 words or less and then move on to the Q&A”, but then I somehow ended up with 2k words of just the first smaller plot point and realised there was no way to put all of it in one chapter without making it 5k+ words. As I don’t have the time to write chapters that long, I’m splitting it up.
> 
> Trigger warnings Chapter 05:  
> mentions of past kidnapping

“Interviewing a therapist... Detective, doesn’t that remind you of the beginnings of our partnership?”

Chloe sends him an exasperated look. “Please try to not sleep with this therapist as well.”

“I would never”, said Lucifer, indicating that he would definitely do so. “Unless you are jealous, detective?” It was said in a very flippant tone and also clear that Lucifer expected one of her eye rolls (or a resigned sigh), but this time Chloe actually froze mid-step.

After the whole debacle with Pierce, she originally did not want to date anymore and instead focus more on her daughter.

But if she was honest with herself, there had always been a special bond between Lucifer and her. In the beginning, this bond consisted of being annoyed at him and wishing he would stop treating her job like a new shiny toy he would discard after it got boring, but over time she realized that he wouldn’t do that. Then she had wished that he would stop being so self-centered and use her cases to project his own issues. (Most of them being daddy issues. And said dad was God. No, she still needed time to get over that particular tidbit of information, thank you very much.)

To be honest, Lucifer being Lucifer had improved her case-solving rate. It had also attracted all kinds of other messes she had to deal with. The stolen angel wings from the early days of their partnership, his Mom, the Goddess of Creation, escaping Hell, wreaking havoc on Earth, now being in her own universe and of course, the police lieutenant and her almost-husband Pierce as Cain, the former immortal first murderer and all the other smaller things she probably had forgotten.

But dammit, Lucifer had proved more than once how serious he took their partnership. His early fascination with her had evolved into a genuine and strong friendship. She knew that Lucifer had wanted to get into her pants the first second he met her and judging from all the innuendos he still made, he still wanted to. Chloe herself had entertained that thought more than she wanted to admit. They even kissed! Granted, after that something always happened to drive them apart. The whole… incident with Pierce was still fresh in her mind, but Lucifer had saved her life on more than that occasion. And Lucifer was the only person after Dan to whom she had a long-term attraction.

Deciding to throw the ball into his court, she looked at him and said: “And if I was jealous?”

Yeah, he definitely didn’t expect that answer, judging from the surprised and then calculating look on his face. He held her gaze as he answered.

“Then I will do nothing that would further your jealousy, Chloe.”

* * *

Talking to the therapist was surprisingly easy. His secretary, one Mrs. Croll according to the nameplate on her desk, had let them into his office, claiming he had a one-hour lunch break and would happily answer their questions.

The office Chloe entered was so different from what she had seen from Linda’s office. Dr. Scott sat behind his massive wooden desk at the other side of the room and ate what seemed like spaghetti with a green sauce from a glass container. He didn’t immediately notice them, too entranced by a nature documentary. Chloe found it oddly cute.

The rest of his office was decorated with plants of varying size and type. She recognized a few small cacti and succulents on the built-in bookshelf behind his desk and two potted ferns next to two leather couches opposite of each other. On the metal coffee table between the couches was a full water pitcher with four glasses, a box of tissues, and a miniature version of a green lily.

“Dr. Scott? These are Detective Decker and her consultant Mr. Morningstar, they are here to talk about one of your patients”, Mrs. Croll announced them.

The middle-aged man looked up and paused the documentary. “Oh? Yes, yes, do come in, officers”, he gestured to one of the couches in front of him. “Thank you, Melinda.” Mrs. Croll nodded and closed the door behind her.

Dr. Scott put his meal aside, put on a pair of dark-framed glasses, and then stepped around his desk to take a seat on the free couch. “How can I help you?”

“We’re here to ask about one of your patients, Doctor”, Chloe began. “Louise Hamilton.”

“She is one of my patients”, he confirmed, “but as you are well aware I can’t give out confidential information about my clients.”

“You can if the client is dead”, Chloe said.

Dr. Scott flinched back. “But– What– How– Who?”

“We don’t know yet, Dr. Scott. We found her today in her apartment and her parents said that she mostly talked to you about her past trauma.”

“Yes, yes, that’s true”, he mumbled and ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, that’s… my God, who would…” His hands gripped around his knees as he took some deep breaths.

“Please excuse me, detectives, I didn’t expect to hear of Miss Hamilton’s death. It is very sudden and out of the blue.”

“I can imagine”, Chloe said. “Did Miss Hamilton mention anybody in her life that she didn’t feel comfortable around?”

“No, no. She rarely left her apartment. After spending most of her life in isolation, she didn’t do well with crowds. In the beginning, she lived in her parent's home, but all four of us agreed that it wasn’t an optimal situation. On good days, she would leave her room so they could eat together as a family, but on bad days, she barely tolerated her parents in the same house as her. And she had more bad days than good days, especially in the first few months.”

“Understandable. But except for you and her parents, there were no other people in her life?”

“Not that I know of, no”, he answered. “I offered Miss Hamilton a place in a group therapy I hold with other former kidnapping victims, she was still thinking about the idea. I thought that getting in contact with other survivors would help her socialize more.”

“Hmmm.” Chloe sneaked a look at her partner, but Lucifer was busy looking around the office.

“What exactly has she told you about her kidnapping?”

Dr. Scott sighed. “Not very much, detective. The first three months we just sat together in my office in silence and the second her appointment ended, she would leave. Then she spent the next months asking me all kinds of questions about me being a therapist, my plants, my books, my interior design. Only four months ago we actually talked about her life. She said that she didn’t remember much of her childhood with her parents, just warm laughter, brown hair, and her stuffed bear Mr. Roscoe.” He rubbed his eyes. “She had a fully furnished bedroom in her favorite color pink with an adjoined bathroom. In the beginning, an older woman would come and help her get bathed, dressed, and all of that. Later on, she would teach her how to write, read and count. We did some exams with her to find out how much education she had gotten and she passed her high school finals with flying colors.”

“That’s impressive”, Chloe said. She reminded herself of her own grades during private teaching and– well, there was a reason she had preferred acting over studying. “What about the woman?”

“Her name was Rosa”, the Doctor continued. “Miss Hamilton saw her as a mother figure for a very long time before Rosa told her that she wasn’t her mother, that the masked man who would sometimes watch them quietly during their lessons wasn’t her father. That he took her from her real parents and kept her in the room isolated from every other person except for him and herself. After that day she never saw Rosa again.”

“Have the police found Rosa?”

“Yes”, Doctor Scott closed his eyes. “Her description matched one of the Jane Does at the morgue. She died five years ago by suffocation and then her body was dumped into the ocean. Her body made it back two years later, but no evidence could be taken. And then her body spent two more years at the morgue before she could be identified.”

“Damn”, murmured Chloe and made a note to get Ella to check the files out.

“Can you tell us anything else? Did she feel watched the last times you spoke? Talked about a new neighbor? Or any other person who seemed interested in her?”

“No to all your questions”, Dr. Scott answered. “She barely had contact with her neighbors. She got most of her groceries delivered and only shopped online.”

He nervously wrung his hands, seemed to fight with himself. There clearly was something else on his mind.

“I… I deal mostly with former kidnapping victims, detective”, he then said. “That being said, I have an expertise on how they usually behave. Being scared of strangers, being scared of certain things they associate with their kidnapper or surroundings, problems with trusting people, clinging to anything familiar, feeling like they're being watched, exhibiting behavior that would please their kidnapper, just to name the most common. And Miss Hamilton fulfilled all those criteria. Don’t get me wrong, that happens often, but… I can’t put my finger on it, something with her behavior was… off. It seemed… practiced. Almost all of my patients learned their behavior through trauma, but Miss Hamilton never mentioned beatings, being drugged, or worse. She was mostly free to do what she wanted and had it better than my usual clients. She shouldn’t have fulfilled every single criterion.”

Chloe furrowed her brows. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“It’s just a feeling, Detective Decker. But in my opinion, everything Miss Hamilton shared with me in our private sessions or the sessions with her parents was thoroughly calculated. Every emotion or posture seemed thought through, almost as if she was putting on a show for everyone around her.”

“Couldn’t that be a result of her kidnapping? Maybe she put on a front to seem tougher than she was?”

“Possible”, Dr. Scott answered. “But unless she neglected to mention that she had to meet a certain standard during her isolation, I don’t see where it could come from. And her parents accepted her the second they saw her. They made sure to show and tell it to her as often as they could. Psychology isn’t an exact science and there are always many explanations for a situation. I can’t tell you why she put on a mask and I can’t tell you why she kept it up for every single appointment we had. I trust my instincts, they are rarely wrong. And my instincts told me that something with Miss Hamilton was off and that if I would address it, I would lose all access to her.”

“I will keep that in mind, Dr. Scott. Is there anything else you can tell us?”

“I’m afraid not, Detective Decker. But I will try and answer any questions you might have. Now, I don’t want to be impolite, but my next appointment is in five minutes and I need to prepare for that.”

“Of course, we wouldn’t want to interrupt your schedule, Dr. Scott. This is my card, if there is anything else you remember about Miss Hamilton, you can call me.”

“I will, Detective. Melinda will escort you, have a good day.”

She nudged Lucifer next to her. He had been as quiet as a mouse during her interview. He had never been that quiet before. Something was off and they should probably talk about it. No, scratch that, they should definitely talk about whatever problem Lucifer had. She didn’t want it to influence her case in a bad way.

Together, they left the office behind them. “Lucifer?”

“Yes, detective?”

“Are you free tonight?”

He blinked and stopped walking. One eyebrow rose up in the air and that trademark smirk of his appeared. “Are you asking me out, detective?”, he purred.

“Not that I wouldn’t like that”, she said, hurriedly moving after seeing the gleam in his eyes at her confession, “but I think right now we should be focussing on the case and whatever involvement your family has in it. Starting with telling me everything you feel comfortable with.”

For a long time, Lucifer just looked at her. “Yes, I think that would be smart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: A heavenly Q&A with Lucifer, Maze and Amenadiel. (This time for real!)
> 
> I am always happy about comments and/or kudos :)


End file.
